Process of making floor-coverings.



G. PRIFOLD.

PHUGESS OF MAKING FLOOR COVERINGS.

APPLICATION FltED DEC- 12. 1917- LQWLUQQ. 4 Patented Mar. 11,1919.

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Pennsylvania, provemen-ts in Coverings, of which the following is a enoaen PRIFOLD,

0F LINWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOIB- TO THE GONG-OLEUM COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- PBOCESS OF MAKING FLOORr-COVERINGS.

memos. p,

Specifibation of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, I919.

Application filed December 12, 1917. Serial No. 206,824.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE PRrroLD, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Linwood, county of Delaware, State of have invented certain Im- Processes of MakingFloorspecification.

One object of my invention is to improve the process of making a ru of the type having a felt base and aprinted pigment surface.

A; further object of the invention 'is to proportion thebase and the printed surface so that they will have the same coefliciency of expansion and contraction.

A still further object of the invention is to dispense with sizing in preparing the felt base for the printed surface so as to allow the base to expand the painted surface.

' sists of Figure 1 is a view of a rug made in accordance with my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the layers cut away and exaggerated to illustrate difierent steps in the process of manufacturing the rug. 7 v

I first make body 1 of dry felt, preferably from cotton rags, although it may be made from other cotton waste, or other suitable material. I saturate the felt with a substance which will thoroughly impregnate it proof against moisture and pliable as at 2, Fig. 2. Thesubstance I prefer to use is a semi-solid bituminous material, which, in the present instance, cona petroleum flux-oil and a residual pitch derived from asphaltic or semi-asphaltic base oils,

The material is brought to a temperature of about 500 F.

and is then placed in-a saturating kettle ofsuch .a size and felt "to be passed through it at a given speed, the materialin the kettle having a temperature of about 350 F. during the saturatin process,

passed t rough the liquor it will be thoroughly impregnated and the surface of.

the felt Wlll be in such a condition that the paint coatings can be applied thereto when i the felt is dry. The material is allowed to cool to a certain degree and while still warm that surface of the felt which is to form and contract with 7 but other hydrocarbons may be used withoutdeparting fromthe spirit of the invention.

diameter as to allow the h and as the dry felt is the back of a rug is coated with a suitable same combination of linseed oil, naphtha and v a pigment 1s applied to the front surface of' the felt, as 'at 1, forming a base for .the design coat of paint 5. This method of applying aback and a front coat, without the use of sizing allows the surface to become interlocked with the fibers of the felt, and theproportion's are such that the shrinkage of the back and front coatings is the same as that of the felt. The design is then printed on the material by the ordinary block printing process, using a paint of such a consistency that when applied by the printing blocks it'will form not, only the design, but also the wearing surface.

The proportions that I have used successfully for the back and front coatings of the felt are as follows: 1

Pigment, 1150 lb.; specially prepared linseed oil, 520 1b.; liquid drier, 100 1b.; and lead oxids 10 lb. I

While I have given a certain formula, it

will be understood that'the formula may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is to apply a sur-' face coating to a felt body so that it will adhere to the fibers of the felt and will form a surface'which will receive the paint forming the ,wearing surface. The proportion between the several coats and the body of the felt is such as to insure a coeficiency of expansion and contraction so that when the material is in the form of a rug it will lie flat upon thefloor and will not turn up at the edge or buckle at the center under of thev felt a preparation of linseed oil,

' printed faces.

na htha and a pigment, heating the material so as .to'evaporate the naphtha, cooling the same and then applying to the opposite surface of the felt a similar coating and allowing it to cool, and then applying a design of paint to one ofsaid sur- 2.--The process herein described of making a floor covering, said process consistmg in saturating a strip of\ felt forming the base of a floor covering with a semisolid bituminous material, applying to each face of the 'felt a coating of linseed oil, naphtha and a pigment, heating the material so as to evaporate the naphtha, then applying a printed design to one surface of the material, the material of each coat being such that it has the same coefficient of expansion as the base. 20

In witness whereof I afiix my signature.

GEORGE PRIFOLD. 

